


take me to the finish line

by theheartfalls



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: It is now, M/M, is that a thing?, tattoo!kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-14
Updated: 2012-12-14
Packaged: 2017-11-21 02:08:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/592262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theheartfalls/pseuds/theheartfalls
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall has a moment of uncertainty, but Zayn’s there to support him, because that’s what they do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	take me to the finish line

**Author's Note:**

> this is mostly just cute and friendly but there are some romantic/sexual undertones that i didn't realize i needed.

Zayn was still half asleep when he felt the up and down motion of the bed he was lying on. He rolled onto his back, blinking up at the ceiling as he tried to decide if he should have started shouting about an earthquake or not, when it stopped as suddenly as it started. A blonde head of hair obscured his vision and he groaned, dragging the pillow from beneath his head and tossing it up, right into Niall’s face.

There was a muffled yelp in protest and then another body landed on top of his, effortlessly knocking all the air from his lungs. “That wasn’t nice!” the Irish boy exclaimed as he wiggled around, doing his best to break a rib or something. 

Zayn managed a small bark of laughter before reaching up to catch Niall in his arms, flipping him off to the side of the bed. “Neither was waking me up.” he retorted, voice gruff from sleep. “What the hell, by the way?” 

Niall was laughing now, sitting up and adjusting his hat back onto his head. “I want to do something and I need your help.” he said, faking seriousness for a moment. Or maybe he wasn’t. It was always so hard to tell whether Niall was ever truly serious or not. 

Zayn rubbed a hand across his face, sitting up at last and throwing the covers off his body. He glanced to the alarm on the bedside table and let out a low huff. “The sun isn’t even up, Niall!” he shouted, going over to the window and throwing open the curtains. It was only six in the morning, and not nearly late enough for Zayn to be standing or functioning. 

Niall rolled his eyes, following his lead and going over to close the curtains. “Let’s pretend it is.” he said, grinning with a bit of guilt behind his eyes. “We have to leave before the other boys get up.” he told him, though that didn’t give nearly enough explanation to get Zayn to do anything more than climb back into bed.

“Nice try. I’m going back to bed. You can struggle through the early morning without me.” he grumbled, pulling the blanket over his head to punctuate the statement. They were ripped off viciously almost immediately. 

“Zayn, please!” Niall had reverted to begging and all bets were off. “I can’t do it on my own.” he said finally, his voice smaller now, less teasing and joking. That alone had Zayn peering at him from underneath the arm he had slung across his face in an effort to block out the world. 

“What is it?” he asked finally, wary of the answer. “And if it’s about food, I will throw the clock at you.” he added in warning, giving Niall a chance to back down now.

Again, Niall could do nothing but roll his eyes at the statement. “I want to get a tattoo.” he confessed quietly, looking around like someone might overhear in the completely empty room. 

Zayn sat up immediately, looking at his friend like he had grown a second head or third nipple somehow. “A what?” he asked, wanting to hear it again just to confirm that he wasn’t crazy.

“A tattoo.” Niall said, a bit louder this time, fidgeting nervously with the sheet he was still holding onto. “But I don’t want the lads to know!” he added immediately, a little panic in his tone. “I just… Don’t want to go alone.” 

He looked so legitimately nervous that, with a heavy sigh, Zayn climbed back out of bed. “Let me get dressed, and then we’ll talk about this.” 

The smile on Niall’s face was bright enough to guild ships to shore in the darkest corners of the ocean.

Once he was dressed appropriately, Zayn found Niall in the tiny sitting area of his hotel room, tapping away at his phone and chewing on the corner of his thumb like he did whenever he was nervous or uncomfortable. It was a tiny thing that Liam would often scold him for, but Niall just shrugged it off, so Zayn said nothing about it. He’d leave the friendly parenting to the others. 

“Alright, what brought this on?” he asked instead, bringing Niall’s attention back to him.

His phone was immediately set aside and Zayn watched as his question was considered intensely. “I’ve thought about it for a while.” he confessed, shrugging a little. “I just never really knew what to do or where and all that.” he told him, rubbing at his wrist a little. 

“Are you wanting it to be a secret thing? Personal?” Zayn asked now, because this was a big decision. “It’ll be on your body forever, mate. Don’t forget that.” 

Niall’s eyes widened comically. “You mean it won’t wash off like the ones in my Cracker Jacks?” he asked with fake shock lacing the words. His concerned expression faded into annoyance, but also amusement. “I know it’s permanent. Which is why I came to you.” he added finally, smiling a little. “I know what I want to get now, but…” 

He trailed off, and Zayn mentally finished the sentence.

 _‘I’m scared.’_ He never had to confess something like that to Zayn. They just understood each other.Niall hated to admit fears, being the most carefree of any of them. He always let things roll of his back, always opened himself to new experiences without hesitation. He wanted to live his life as fully and enjoyably as possible, so any moment of fear or uncertainty was problematic in his mind. 

“Alright, but I’m taking you to my best guy.” Zayn told him decidedly, sparing him the need to confess his worry. 

Niall beamed at him and Zayn thought, for just one moment, that he could most certainly get used to being the reason behind the happiness in his expression.

~

“Are you kidding?”

The question was posed rhetorically, but the tattoo artist opened his mouth to answer anyway. He was a somewhat-friend of Zayn’s, very experienced, but he didn’t really know the boys in the band yet, so he didn’t know that not all of Niall’s questions need to be answered.

“Niall, it’s a needle.” Zayn said, raising his hand to hold the artist off from speaking. “It’s not going to be tiny.” he reminded him, patting his shoulder gently.

“That looks bigger than anything a nurse has ever stuck into me. Is that even safe?” Niall asked, looking at Zayn with fright in his eyes that was both endearing and hilarious. It was a miracle that Zayn didn’t burst into laughter right then. 

They had only been at the tattoo shop thirty minutes, but Niall’s idea was simple and the outline was already done, placed on his body just as he wanted it. They had debated for a good ten of those minutes, but in the end, Zayn was actually feeling a little jealous. 

The only hold-up was that Niall seemed to have developed a sudden fear of needles. 

“Niall, just trust me. I wouldn’t let anyone put anything near you that would hurt you, now would I?” he asked seriously, looking his friend dead in the eyes as he spoke, no trace of amusement or joking in his tone at all. He could tell this was serious to Niall and he wanted to be equally serious in return. 

He was always the one protecting Niall. They all looked out for him, of course, sort of seeing him as the youngest of them all, even if that wasn’t the case. He had become the unofficial youngster, if not in age then in mentality. Not to say he wasn’t mature, when he wanted to be, but it was hard not to be overly protective of such a free-spirit. 

Finally, Niall just shook his head. “Alright,” he said quietly, looking over at the needle again with a bit of disdain. “I just won’t look.” he said with determination. 

Zayn smiled a little, his hand that was still rested on Niall’s shoulder giving a gentle squeeze of reassurance. He didn’t move it, even as the needle started buzzing and Niall reverted his eyes to the ceiling, a determined set to his jaw.

He didn’t flinch as the design was permanently etched onto his body and Zayn was so proud of him that he was positive he would burst with it. 

The tattoo was special in it’s simplicity, taking almost no time at all to be completed, but it was still just as meaningful as anything Zayn had ever gotten. Placed low on his hip, no one would see it unless Niall wanted them to or went out shirtless, which he would be careful not to do. However, he examined it himself in the mirror on the wall once it was finished, fingers gently probing the tender skin. 

“It’s the weirdest adrenaline rush I’ve ever had.” he confessed to Zayn, a small smile on his lips. 

“Endorphin rush.” Zayn corrected, smiling in return at how pleased Niall looked. “It’s the reason tattoos are so addicting.” he added, looking at his arm with a soft chuckle. 

Niall glanced over and laughed. “I doubt I’d go that far.” he commented, grabbing his t-shirt from the table beside them.

Zayn simple shrugged, catching the edge of his shirt before he could lower it all the way. “Hold on.” he said, pulling a chair over and sitting down so he was more at level with the wound. He didn’t touch it directly, fingertips probing around it softly.

He felt Niall shiver and looked up at him. “Your hand is really cold.” he said, though he didn’t seem truly bothered. Zayn laughed, grabbing a piece of plastic to cover it before dropping Niall’s shirt. “Thank you for coming with me.” Niall added quietly.

Zayn stood, wrapping an arm around Niall’s shoulders. “Glad you picked me.” he replied, equally quiet, dropping a kiss to Niall’s temple. “Now, let’s get breakfast.” he added, immediately launching Niall into listing all of the nearby restaurants he liked. 

And yeah, Zayn decided, he could definitely live to make Niall smile like this every day.


End file.
